Hang on, guys.

Oh, hey there! I'm trying to change the way my blog looks right now, so if you're on my page right now, don't be alarmed that things look kind of crazy or stupid. They'll get better really soon. Okay, thanks bye.

UPDATE: Things are normal now. So if you still think things look crazy or stupid, keep it to yourself! Or email me with suggestions.

Christmas: I Believe in Christ

This post is not about Santa, cute decorations, recipes, or funny stories. And this post is not even about the beloved story of Christ's birth (although all of those things are wonderful). This post is about my testimony of Jesus Christ.

Readers, I know that Jesus Christ was born in the most modest of circumstances and lived a very humble mortal life. I know the He is the Son of God. I know that He healed the sick, raised the dead, and caused the blind to see. I also know that He suffered every pain--physical, emotional, spiritual, and mental--imaginable. I know that He bore the weight of all my sins and yours too so that you and I can one day live with our Father in Heaven again with a clean conscience. I know that He died on the cross and that three days later He was resurrected. I know that He lives once again! I know that He loves me. I have felt His love and I can feel it now as I'm writing this. I know that if we repent, keep the commandments, and have faith in Christ, we can be healed and forgiven of our sins through Him.

Christmas is about Jesus. Not only the baby Jesus, but the one who performed miracles, atoned for our sins and pains, died and was resurrected, and who lives again and loves us all.

Here are the words to a song that should be a Christmas carol:

I Believe in Christ

I believe in Christ; he is my King!

With all my heart to him I'll sing;

I'll raise my voice in praise and joy,

In grand amens my tongue employ.

I believe in Christ; he is God's Son.

On earth to dwell his soul did come.

He healed the sick; the dead he raised.

Good works were his; his name be praised.

I believe in Christ; oh blessed name!

As Mary's Son he came to reign

'Mid mortal men, his earthly kin,

To save them from the woes of sin.

I believe in Christ, who marked the path,

Who did gain all his Father hath,

Who said to men: "Come, follow me,

That ye, my friends, with God may be."

I believe in Christ--my Lord, my God!

My feet he plants on gospel sod.

I'll worship him with all my might;

He is the source of truth and light.

I believe in Christ; he ransoms me.

From Satan's grasp he sets me free,

And I shall live with joy and love

In his eternal courts above.

I believe in Christ; he stands supreme!

From him I'll gain my fondest dream;

And while I strive through grief and pain,

His voice is heard: "Ye shall obtain."

I believe in Christ; so come what may,

With him I'll stand in that great day

When on this earth he comes again

To rule among the sons of men.

Text: Bruce R. McConkie, 1915-1985. (c) 1972 IRI

Music: John Longhurst, b. 1940. (c) 1985 IRI

Merry Christmas! If you want to learn more about Jesus, go to www.mormon.org. 

Anxiety about Worms

Since I've decided to make writing about dumb stuff I've worried about a thing, I will go ahead and write this post.

I have an irrational fear of worms. Yes, worms. I suppose that worrying about tape worms and other parasitic worms is not so irrational, but I worry about blood worms (they eat sand, not blood), worms in trees, silk worms, and anything that looks like a worm. Okay, I suppose I have overcome my fear of earth worms through extensive study and handling of them.

Funny story: I just looked up worms in Bing images and now I'm even more terrified. I saw a picture of a guy getting a long white worm pulled out of his foot!!! HIS FOOT! I'm debating whether or not to show you. NO. No pictures.

So last night I had a dream that was completely terrifying. I was supposed to feed a worm. This worm was as big around as a softball, yellow and ridged. It also had purple spikes and it lived underground. It was probably about a foot and a half long. Anyway, my job was to feed it this sticky substance that wouldn't get off my hand. I ended up putting my hand in the hole with the worm, desperately trying to get the food off my hand. Before I was able to free myself of the sticky food, the worm was chomping on my hand with its pincers! At that point my husband woke me up because I was making scared, crying sounds. (Thank goodness for him).

When I was eight, my driveway was very long and my bus stop was at the end of the driveway. One day it rained a ton, so all of the earthworms were squirming around on the road, trying not to drown. I knew they couldn't hurt me, but I got the serious heebie jeebies walking down the driveway, seeing them and their trails in the mud.

I've changed my mind. I think that worms are not really such an irrational fear after all. Especially parasitic worms that come out of your foot. Also, blood worms bite really hard.

UPDATE: There were pictures here, but every time I would go back to this page, I got really freaked out. So I took them off. You're welcome.

Peach Pie

Peach pie. What more can I say? This pie will be good any time of the year! Actually guys, I don't know. I haven't tried it yet. Tomorrow I will tell you if it's good or not! If it's terrible, I will delete this post. How about that? But I can tell you this much, it smells pretty dang good.

Peach Pie Filling:

5 cups sliced peeled peaches (or thawed from the frozen section) 

2 tbsp lemon juice

1/2 cup all purpose flour

1 cup sugar

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

1/4 tsp salt

2 tbsp butter

Double-Crust Pie Dough:

2 1/2  cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for rolling out the dough
2       tablespoon sugar
1       teaspoon salt
8       tablespoons vegetable shortening, chilled
12     tablespoons (1 1/2 stick) unsalted butter, cut into pieces and chilled
6-10  tablespoons ice water

1. Preheat oven to 425-degrees F. Combine the flour, sugar, and salt in a mixing bowl using a whisk. Then put the shortening in the bowl and mix with a pastry blender quickly until it has the texture of coarse sand. Now scatter the butter pieces over the top and mix it in with the pastry blender until it looks kind of like coarse crumbs. Don't worry if you still have chunks of fat, that's what makes it flakey! 

2. Sprinkle 6 tablespoons of the ice water over the mixture. Stir and press the dough together, using a stiff rubber spatula, until the dough sticks together. If the dough does not come together, stir in the remaining water, 1 tablespoon at a time, until it does. Form the dough into 2 4-inch disks, wrap tightly in plastic rap, and refrigerate at least 1 hour.

3. Let the chilled dough soften slightly at room temperature before rolling it into 12-inch circles and fitting the first into a pie plate.

4. Put the filling into the pie plate lined with dough and then roll out place the other circle of dough on the top of the filling, using your rolling pin as a guide.

Bake at 425 for 10 minutes and then reduce the temperature to 350 degrees and bake for 30-35 minutes, or until the crust is golden brown.

Obviously, I did a lattice crust on top. It's really not very difficult. Just slice the circle of flattened dough into 1-inch strips and weave them carefully on the pie. I also didn't do a crimped edge, but I think it looks fine just tucked under instead.

Blackberry Pie

One thing I enjoy about my family living on a farm in Pendleton, Oregon is that in the summertime the blackberries come on strong. Fresh picked, wild blackberries is a delicious treat from heaven! If I can control myself enough to not eat every berry I pick, I can manage to gather up enough berries to make into pie. Other members of my family make cobbler and jam out of the berries as well as pies.

However, this is not the traditional recipe from my family (although it is great). This recipe has a thicker sauce, more like a jam.

Blackberry Pie Filling

6    cups of blackberries
2    cups of sugar (more or less depending on tartness of berries)
4    tablespoons of lemon juice
6    tablespoons of corn starch
2    teaspoons of vanilla extract
3/4 teaspoon of cinnamon

Pour the ingredients into a sauce pan and stir over medium heat. Let the mixture simmer for 30 minutes, or until thick (sticking to the spoon). Stir every so often. Tasting is really helpful to figure out if you need more cinnamon, lemon juice, or sugar.

Let the sauce cool before pouring it into your pie pan with crust.

Pie Double-Crust

2 1/2   cups all-purpose flour
2/3      cup shortening
6 to 10 tablspoon cold water
1/2      teaspoon salt

Stir together flour and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Using a pastry blender, cut in shortening till pieces are pea-size.
Sprinkle 1 T. Of the water over part of the mixture; gently toss with a fork. Push moistened dough to the side of the bowl. Repeat moistening dough, using 1 tblspn of the water at a time, till all the dough is moistened. Form dough into a ball.
On a lightly floured surface, use your hands to slightly flatten dough. Roll dough from center to edges into a circle about 12 inches in diameter.
To transfer pastry, wrap it around the rolling pin. Unroll pastry into a 9-inch pie plate.  Ease pastry into pie plate, being careful not to stretch pastry.
Trim pastry to 1/2 inch beyond edge of pie plate. Fold under extra pastry. Crimp edge as desired. Do not prick pastry.

Don't make your vents like I did. Please. For me. Don't make them look like a pig snout. Sloppy cuts that look like nostrils...

Cherubic Cheese Ball

Every Thanksgiving there is one special item I make for the feast. It's my thing. If it's not there and I am, something is wrong. So I am gracing you with this highly delectable recipe. The Cherubic Cheese Ball! May you bask in it's radiance.

I made this recipe up myself, so I'm pretty sure that makes me an awesome cook or something.

So. Let's get down to the nitty gritty...

Ingredients:

2 packages of cream cheese
1 T. minced garlic
2 green onions, chopped
1/4 t. salt

Sliced almonds

Directions:

Let your cream cheese packages sit out for a little while so they can get soft. Then add all of your ingredients except the almonds into a mixing bowl and combine thoroughly. Use a cracker and see if the flavor blend is the way you like and add more seasoning ingredients if you'd like.

Once the flavor is to your liking, Scrape the contents of your bowl onto a serving plate of some sort. Using a rubber spatula or knife, shape the mixture into a ball.

After the ball has been shaped, clean your plate around the ball with a wet paper towel or cloth. Then cover the ball with slivered almonds. Using a spoon helps a lot, I've found.

Serve as an appetizer with crackers of your choice. I like to use Ritz!

Looking for a healthier option? Use neufchatel instead of cream cheese. I can't really taste a difference.

Pumpkin Pie!

Thanksgiving means pies! In my mind, pie has always been the holy grail of baking. I come from a family of great home cooks and bakers and all of the women can make great pies. My maternal grandma was once the best cook I knew! Unfortunately she doesn't cook or bake anymore because she has forgotten how. But the legacy was passed to my mom, aunts, sisters, and now to me.

One of my favorite pies is pumpkin. Crust is the trickiest part about pies, in my opinion. It's easy for them to be messed up by over-stirring and handling. So let's get rolling on the recipe.

Single-Crust Pie Dough
*For one 9-inch pie

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for rolling out the dough
1       tablespoon sugar
1/2    teaspoon salt
3       tablespoons vegetable shortening, chilled
4       tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, cut into pieces and chilled
4-6    tablespoons ice water

1. Combine the flour, sugar, and salt in a mixing bowl using a whisk. Then put the shortening in the bowl and mix with a pastry blender quickly until it has the texture of coarse sand. Now scatter the butter pieces over the top and mix it in with the pastry blender until it looks kind of like coarse crumbs. Don't worry if you still have chunks of fat, that's what makes it flakey! 

2. Sprinkle 4 tablespoons of the ice water over the mixture. Stir and press the dough together, using a stiff rubber spatula, until the dough sticks together. If the dough does not come together, stir in the remaining water, 1 tablespoon at a time, until it does. Form the dough into a 4-inch disk, wrap tightly in plastic rap, and refrigerate at least 1 hour.

3. Let the chilled dough soften slightly at room temperature before rolling it into a 12-inch circle and fitting it into a pie plate. Please enjoy the following photo-instructions:

Don't forget to freeze your crust at this point! Now, onto the filling.

Pumpkin Pie Filling

Ingredients:

1 can (15 oz.) pumpkin
1 can (14 oz.) sweetened condensed milk
2 eggs
1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
1 teaspoon vanilla

Mix all the ingredients together and pour into the frozen, unbaked pie crust. Bake in preheated 425-degrees F oven 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350-degrees F; bake 40 minutes longer. Cool completely before serving.